So the Trustees have announced the end of the Greek System "as we know it"; now what?
Last night, about 40 students from many different segments of campus came together to discuss that very issue: now what? Despite the many differing opinions in the room, we reached a consensus on several issues. What I heard really impressed me, and so I want to take a minute or two to let you know what we discussed.
First and foremost, the 40 of us who met in 101 Collis agreed that we (meaning you, me, everyone) will need to work together if we are going to have an opportunity to effect the process which the Trustees set in motion on Saturday.
Second, we decided that the conversation which took place within 101 Collis needs to happen across campus. The discussion about where to go from here needs to take place in many different contexts and must include all segments of campus.
Third, we decided that a major problem which needs to be addressed is the lack of information about what the Trustees actually decided. With this in mind, Case Dorkey and I were asked by the 40 students to set up an informational meeting with President Wright and Dean Nelson.
As I type this column, Case is over at Parkhurst, presumably knocking on President Wright's door. Hopefully, by the time you read this column, we'll know that President Wright and Dean Nelson can make it to this informational meeting.
Also, by the time you read this column, you will have received a BlitzMail message from the Student Assembly asking if you have a question that you would like to ask the President or the Dean. Your questions (well, as many of them as possible) will be asked of Wright and Nelson at the informational meeting (hopefully, Monday).
I spoke with President Wright last night, and he asked that any major meeting not be confrontational, which is why we're asking that questions be submitted in advance.
Afterwards, you and I -- all of us -- have a lot of work to do.
The Trustees have challenged the Dartmouth community. They have challenged us to shape the future of this campus's social and residential life; to shape the future of OUR social and residential lives.
Will they listen to what we say? Well, I'm not entirely convinced, so I don't expect you to be either.
That said, I'm willing to take my chances, and I hope you are, too. My feeling is that we have a term and a half to make our case. We have a term and a half to prove that we are a community of students that is capable of acting as such... as a community. We must be willing to work together, and to exchange ideas, and to develop the best possible social and residential environment for Dartmouth.
I believe we have an obligation to do these things, but, if you don't agree, then it doesn't matter what I think. The Trustees have thrown down the challenge. I don't know how much influence we will have, and I don't particularly like the way in which the Trustees have challenged us.
But now we have two choices. We can do everything possible to present to the Trustees a well-articulated summary of what students agree on and what students disagree on. Or we can do nothing.
I'm looking forward to doing everything possible.
And I'm looking forward to beginning -- not ending -- this process on Monday at the informational meeting.
If you have any thoughts on what to do now, feel free to Blitz me. Don't worry, Kiewit's "You have more than 10,000k of mail" messages don't scare me, and, to tell you the truth, neither do the Trustees.
